Work is worship for Mallaika Arora

Mumbai: She enthralled us with her latkas and jhatkas in Chaiyan Chaiyan and then once again won us over with her thumkas as Munni.

Malaika Arora Khan has been a part of the film industry right from the time when she was a young girl, who then went on to become the Khan bahu and then later, a mom. And, Malaika loves all the roles she plays in life, especially that of being a woman.

Back to work

My mom was a working mom and so I had her as a role model. But in reality, when Arhaan was born, I was in that phase where I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. It was Arbaaz who told me that I should take as long as I wanted, but should eventually get back to work. And what a sound advise that has been. Being a working woman really balances your life out. It gives you the freedom to be financially independent, which is extremely important. It doesn't matter what kind of a job you pursue -- whether you work from home, do a 9 to 5 job or whether you're a part of a creative/glamorous field. The real question is whether or not you feel good about yourself and what you do.

In the loop

To onlookers, what we do just seems like an endless work pattern. But to me, a job is a job, and I treat my work like you would treat yours. I look into my son's studies, supervise the cooking in the house, look into my husband's needs, etc. There is never a situation when I'm disconnected with what's happening in my family. Yes, I'm a working mom, but that of a child who's grown up in a film business family. Arhaan has come with me to shoots, he's used to talks that revolve around films, their release dates, shooting schedules, so on and so forth.

Time alone

Having said that, let me tell you that I'm very, very particular about 'Me' time. It just rejuvenates you and puts things back in the right perspective for you. Whenever I can, I take off to Goa or a spa. At home, I love to spend some time just by myself listening to music, pottering around, cleaning the house or cooking. My girlfriends are very dear to me and every year, we make sure we go on a girly trip. It's very essential for every woman to spend some time with just her friends. I love it and it is no wonder why men love it too.